1. Indicator of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a mobile cellular communication system, more particularly to a mobile cellular communication system used in 2nd and 3rd generation mobile cellular system, and more still particularly to an indicator in mobility management (MM) procedures to specify a procedure type executed in Core Network (CN) entities.
2. Description of Related Art
Cellular systems have had a direct effect on the lives of millions over the past few years. For the first time, people are able to make and receive phone calls without being tied to a specific location. Mobile phones, as part of the cellular systems, have allowed people to break the tie between location and access to communication. Mobile phones have also allowed people to reach another who is in move. With the development in cellular systems, people are allowed to reach another who is mobile in anywhere at anytime.
The first generation of mobile communication systems were born in the early 1980s. The marriage of radio and telephone technologies gave birth to mobile phones and triggered a turning point in telecommunications. Adding radio access to a telephone network meant that for the first time in history, the concept of a telephone being at a fixed point in the network was no longer valid. The benefits of being able to make and receive telephone calls anywhere had appeal to business peoplexe2x80x94the original market. In the first generation of cellular networks, analog wireless technology were used for the user connection (called the xe2x80x9cair interfacexe2x80x9d). Every voice channel had its own narrow frequency band, using a technology called Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA).
However, as the demand for mobile phones grew and grew, regularly exceeding forecasts, it became obvious that the available radio spectrum would not be adequate to accommodate the expected numbers of mobile phone users. The digital technology became the solution to the problem. The answer lay in new digital wireless technologies that allow larger numbers of mobile subscribers to be supported within a given frequency allocation. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology is used in which a broader frequency channel is divided into intermittent time-slots, i.e. several calls share the same frequency channel at any one time. The digital technology also offered other important benefits. It provided better voice quality and improved security against unauthorized eavesdropping. Another technology, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) has also been developed subsequently to increase capacity.
The first and second generation mobile communication systems were mainly set to support voice communications, although today""s mobile phones can also be used for data transfer at rates that are acceptable for relatively low-speed data applications such as sending and receiving of faxes and e-mail. However, these systems do not support high-speed data or video applications. The third generation mobile communication system is being developed to remove the bandwidth bottleneck and support a whole new range of voice, data, video, and multimedia services. For example, smart messaging is bringing Internet services to every mobile user""s fingertips. As people become used to the freedom that mobile communications have provided, they will become more demanding about the information and services required to benefit their lives.
The demand by consumers all over the world for mobile communications service continues to expand at a rapid pace and will continue to do so for at least the next decade. To satisfy such demand, more and more innovative mobile telecommunications networks are being built in this growing industry.
In the 3rd generation cellular systems, many practical techniques are being developed over the past few years. The mobile telecommunication network comprises switching functions, service logic functions, database functions, and Mobility Management (MM) functions that enable subscribers to be mobile. These are some of the functions provided by Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs) for serving Circuit Switched (CS) connections, by Visitor Location Registers (VLR) for serving CS connections, or by other network entities, for example, Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) for Packet Switched (PS) connections (GPRS refers to General Packet Radio System).
Generally, the database in the Core Network (CN) keeps tracks of the location of Mobile Stations (MSs). In one case, the CN comprises both entities, MSC (or MSC/VLR) and SGSN, to implement such database. Each of the MSs can have a location update service, a CS or PS connection service from the CN by sending radio signals to its Base Station (BS). Each of the BSs is controlled by a Radio Network Controller (RNC) which connects to the CN.
In the existing mobile telecommunication systems, e.g. the 2nd generation mobile telecommunication systems, the Core Network (CN) only has MSC/VLR CN entity for serving Circuit Switched (CS) connections, and the CN configuration is simply a CN with MSC/VLR CN entities. Accordingly, the Mobile Station (MS) knows the configuration of the CN as well as the type of services subscribed to a user, i.e. CS connection service. Further, a registration procedure, such as a location update by the MS can also be readily done.
However, more and more mobile telecommunication systems are developed to have different kinds of CN configurations and different types of CN entities, e.g. a 3rd generation mobile telecommunication system. The CN of the 3rd generation mobile telecommunication system may include a variety of CN entities, such as SGSN CN entity, MSC/VLR CN entity, etc. Further, the CN may have a separate MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity configuration, a separate but connected by Gs interface MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity configuration, an integrated MSC/SGSN CN entity configuration. Accordingly, a Mobile Station (MS) does not necessarily know which services are subscribed to a user. For example, in Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), this information is held in the Home Location Register (HLR). Thus, the MS does not know where to perform a registration procedure, such as location update, or which type of service is desired by the user, e.g. CS or PS attach/detach service, or other Mobility Management (MM) procedures.
Accordingly, there is a need for a solution to providing MM procedures of a Mobile Station (MS) in a Core Network (CN) of a mobile telecommunication system regardless of the CN configuration and regardless of the types of CN entities in the CN.
To overcome the limitations or problems in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention provides a method, a system, and article of manufacture for providing Mobility Management (MM) procedure of a Mobile Station (MS) in a Core Network (CN) of a mobile telecommunication system.
The present invention solves the above-described problems by providing an indicator in Mobility Management (MM) procedures, e.g. location update, or attach/detach procedure, to specify the procedure type executed in the Core Network (CN) entities.
When a Mobile Station (MS) executes location update, detach, or attach MM procedure (hereafter referred to as update procedure), there is an indicator in a Mobility Management (MM) message, which describes the update type, e.g. for all entities (including MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity, etc.), for MSC/VLR CN entity only, or for SGSN CN entity only, etc. Accordingly, the MS updates all possible CN entities when the indicator the update type is for all entities, the MS only updates MSC/VLR CN entity when the indicator of the update type is for MSC/VLR CN entity only, and the MS only updates SGSN CN entity when the indicator of the update type is for SGSN CN entity only. This indicator is sent with the MM message, which requests the update from the CN, e.g. location update request, attach request and detach request message, etc.
The CN entity next updates the HLR (Home Location Register) and then sends an acknowledgment message back to the MS (in case of a detach procedure, the CN entity may not send an acknowledgment back to the MS). The CN entity indicates in the acknowledgment message the entities that were updated. The CN entity also indicates in the acknowledgment message the entities that still are to be updated. There are many different options to perform the update because of the different types of CN entities and different CN configurations. The CN receives this information from the Home Location Register (HLR) where information of the services that MS has subscribed is stored.
In one embodiment of the present invention, there is a method for providing a mobility management procedure of a Mobile Station (MS) in a Core Network (CN) of a mobile telecommunication system, the CN including a plurality of CN entities, comprising:
a) determining, by the MS, to which of the CN entities to perform the update procedure;
b) updating, by the MS, the CN entity;
c) acknowledging the MS, by the CN, whether update is successful or failed; and
d) acknowledging the MS, by the CN, whether update of other CN entity is needed, if needed, defining, by the CN, to which of other CN entity to perform update, and continuing b)-d).
In one aspect of the present invention, the MS has an indicator which defines an update type. The update type includes one of: all CN entities; one type of CN entity only, such that if the indicator has the update type of all CN entities, the MS updates the all CN entities; and if the indicator has the update type of one type of CN entity only, the MS updates the one type of CN entity only.
In another aspect of the invention, the plurality of the CN entities include a SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) CN entity, a MSC/VLR (Mobile Switching Center/Visitor Location Register) CN entity, such that if the indicator has the update type of all CN entities, the MS updates the all CN entities including all of the SGSN CN entity and the MSC/VLR CN entity; if the indicator has the update type of SGSN CN entity only, the MS updates the SGSN CN entity only; if the indicator has the update type of MSC/VLR CN entity only, the MS updates the MSC/VLR CN entity only.
In one embodiment of the invention, the CN is a CN with separate MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity. If the indicator has the update type of all entities, the MS registers the MSC/VLR CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the MSC/VLR CN entity is successful and that update of SGSN CN entity is needed. Upon receipt of the acknowledgment from the CN that update of SGSN CN entity is needed, the MS registers the SGNS CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the SGSN CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
Further in one embodiment of the present invention wherein the CN is a CN with separate MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity, if the indicator has the update type of all entities, the MS registers the SGSN CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the SGSN CN entity is successful and that update of MSC/VLR CN entity is needed. Upon receipt of the acknowledgment from the CN that update of MSC/VLR CN entity is needed, the MS registers the MSC/VLR CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the MSC/VLR CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
Still in one embodiment of the present invention wherein the CN is a CN with separate MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity, if the indicator has the update type of MSC/VLR CN entity only, the MS registers the MSC/VLR CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the MSC/VLR CN entity is successful and that no update of other CN entity is needed.
Yet in one embodiment of the present invention wherein the CN is a CN with separate MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity, if the indicator has the update type of SGSN CN entity only, the MS registers the SGSN CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the SGSN CN entity is successful and that no update of other CN entity is needed.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the CN is a CN with separate but connected by Gs interface MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity. If the indicator has the update type of all entities, the MS registers the MSC/VLR CN entity first and then registers the SGSN CN entity via the Gs interface, the CN acknowledges that the update of the MSC/VLR CN entity and the SGSN CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
Alternatively, in another embodiment of the invention, the CN is a CN with separate but connected by Gs interface MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity. If the indicator has the update type of all entities, the MS registers the SGSN CN entity first and then registers the MSC/VLR CN entity via the Gs interface, the CN acknowledges that the update of the SGSN CN entity and the MSC/VLR CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
Further in another embodiment of the invention wherein the CN is a CN with separate but connected by Gs interface MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity, if the indicator has the update type of MSC/VLR CN entity only, the MS registers the MSC/VLR CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the MSC/VLR CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
Still in another embodiment of the invention wherein the CN is a CN with separate but connected by Gs interface MSC/VLR CN entity and SGSN CN entity, if the indicator has the update type of SGSN CN entity only, the MS registers the SGSN CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the SGSN CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the CN is a CN with integrated MSC/SGSN CN entity. If the indicator has the update type of all entities, the MS registers the MSC/SGSN CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the MSC/SGSN CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
Further in an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein the CN is a CN with integrated MSC/SGSN CN entity, if the indicator has the update type of MSC/VLR CN entity only, the MS registers the MSC CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the MSC CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
Still in an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein the CN is a CN with integrated MSC/SGSN CN entity, if the indicator has the update type of SGSN CN entity only, the MS registers the SGSN CN entity, the CN acknowledges that the update of the SGSN CN entity is successful and that no update of other entity is needed.
Another aspect of the invention is that the update includes location update, a circuit switch attach/detach, or a packet switch attach/detach.
The present invention also provides a system of providing an update procedure in a mobile telecommunication system. In one embodiment, the system includes:
a Core Network (CN), the CN including a plurality of CN entities;
a Mobile Station (MS), the MS determining to which of the CN entities to perform the update procedure and updating the CN entity; and
wherein after update of the CN entity, the CN acknowledging the MS whether update is successful or failed, and whether update of other CN entity is needed, if needed, the CN defining to which of other CN entity to perform update and continuing update of the other CN entity.
One advantage of the present invention is that it provides means for handling different kinds of CN configurations or architectures when MS is executing MM procedures in a mobile communication network system.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof, and to accompanying descriptive matter, in which there are illustrated and described specific examples of an apparatus in accordance with the invention.